Heat Pump Makers Woo Contractors in Effort to Spur US Sales
Manufacturers are using free classes and social media to turn contractors into evangelists for energy-efficient heating and cooling.
A worker installs a heat pump at a home in Standish, Maine.
Photographer: Brianna Soukup/Portland Portland Press Herald/Getty ImagesWhen Miranda Sherman’s gas furnace suddenly died during a recent cold snap, she did what most Americans would do: She searched for “furnace won’t ignite” on Google, realized the machine was beyond repair and started calling contractors first thing in the morning.
Over the next few days, Sherman, a marketing executive in Beltsville, Maryland, took estimates from three local contractors. All three pitched her on a range of gas furnace replacements, costing between $9,000 and $12,000. But no one offered a heat pump, even though those devices have been around for decades, reduce homeowners’ utility bills, save carbon from being released into the atmosphere and now come with a federal cash incentive: a 30% tax credit, up to a $2,000 cap, in the recent Inflation Reduction Act.